Is switching bank/s for the cash bonus/es worth the effort?

mp203

I see there are still a few inducements to switch banks (up to £175, with a few other perks). Could you sign up for it, jump through the hoops for however long (a month or two?) then move onto the next one. Then go back to your original bank when you've used up all the offers, if you wanted to.
I wonder what the 'hourly rate' might be for the work involved.
(Provided you weren't concerned about your credit rating at the moment, for a mortgage or whatever).
Would there be any penalty/comeback for signing up only to leave asap? Or are they used to people doing this and therefore expect a percentage of those signing up to do this?

DullGreyGuy

mp203 said:

I see there are still a few inducements to switch banks (up to £175, with a few other perks). Could you sign up for it, jump through the hoops for however long (a month or two?) then move onto the next one. Then go back to your original bank when you've used up all the offers, if you wanted to.
I wonder what the 'hourly rate' might be for the work involved.
(Provided you weren't concerned about your credit rating at the moment, for a mortgage or whatever).
Would there be any penalty/comeback for signing up only to leave asap? Or are they used to people doing this and therefore expect a percentage of those signing up to do this?

Just read the terms of the promotion, there is often minimum times before the monies are paid. First Direct is 45 days but you also need to deposit £1k and make 5 debit card payments etc. 

As an hourly rate for the majority of people it will be very high by most people standards but there is always the occasional case where something goes wrong and you've got to spend a load of time on the phone etc trying to sort it out and thats where it will drop significantly. 

Also remember that some banks are brand new customers only... I did once go to switch to FD for a signup bonus but was told I had an ISA with them when they first started offering them and though I didnt get any form of bonus it will forever prohibit me from getting one from them... that and the horribly painful experience of trying to deal with the extra info they wanted meant the application was abandoned. Its all well and good saying you've got no call steering but stupid when you new accounts team won't give you a direct dial number so you have to keep phoning the regular number and wait in a queue only to ask to be transferred. 

njkmr

We have literally just switched from Santander to nationwide.
Took the wife maybe an hour on the info they wanted online and website wasn't very easy navigating due to poor connection or something but once she had filled all the info in , Nationwide did the rest.
Took less than 2 weeks to switch.
£175 in our account shortly after.
Never done  it before but yes it's probably worth the effort. Well the wife's efforts..!
We did it for the travel insurance and breakdown cover really so it works for us and we probably won't be switching about chasing switch bonuses for the sake of it.

winkowinko

For a bit of admin and faffing around, I would say yes.

Once you've completed your first one, you'll realise it really isn't that strenuous, and you'll be inclined to crack on with the next. 

I am new to the switching game, but have completed 2 in the last few months, and only waiting a few more weeks until I receive my third incentive. Will be £510 in total + plus a choice of perk from TSB.

Middle_of_the_Road

Is switching bank/s for the cash bonus/es worth the effort?

It's the easiest money you can make in my opinion. I don't think the switching process requires much effort at all to complete.

Zanderman

mp203 said:

I see there are still a few inducements to switch banks (up to £175, with a few other perks). Could you sign up for it, jump through the hoops for however long (a month or two?) then move onto the next one. Then go back to your original bank when you've used up all the offers, if you wanted to.
I wonder what the 'hourly rate' might be for the work involved.
(Provided you weren't concerned about your credit rating at the moment, for a mortgage or whatever).
Would there be any penalty/comeback for signing up only to leave asap? Or are they used to people doing this and therefore expect a percentage of those signing up to do this?

No need to ever leave your original bank. 

Just open a second current account at your original bank and switch that.

PS, yes it is worth it

Rob5342

It's money for old rope. I've done it loads of times and it's no more than half an hours work, so easily £300 per hour. No bank is obliged to give you an account, so I'd say choose a bank you want to stay with long term for yout main banking, and then have secondary accounts to switch for the bonuses. They'll know that some people will switch just for the bonus but I'd imagine that they are. In the minority. For me switching to a new bank is a trivial 10 minute task, but most people I know treat it as a massive change they only do very rarely

penners324

Once managed 3 switches in a month. About 30 minutes work to earn about £500

Hinchandrossi

mp203 said:

I see there are still a few inducements to switch banks (up to £175, with a few other perks). Could you sign up for it, jump through the hoops for however long (a month or two?) then move onto the next one. Then go back to your original bank when you've used up all the offers, if you wanted to.
I wonder what the 'hourly rate' might be for the work involved.
(Provided you weren't concerned about your credit rating at the moment, for a mortgage or whatever).
Would there be any penalty/comeback for signing up only to leave asap? Or are they used to people doing this and therefore expect a percentage of those signing up to do this?

Its definitely worth it. I'm out of accounts to go too now for a while but its such easy money.

Brewer21

It's worth switching for the bonuses. I'm out of opportunities now, exhausted them all. 
Tempted by a Co-op bank one recently, never had an account there but far too many hoops to get through, I can't be a****
The only other bank I've not had a switch bonus from is First Direct, they have been my main bank for years, well since they first became a telephone bank. You'll get nowt from them as a customer, no freebies, no switching bonus, some other banks offer switch bonuses even if you already have an account, switching in another let's say.
I keep FD purely for the good service and reliability, including offering a decent regular saver rate of interest. I also have a CC with them and it's easy to get a loan I've found in the past.
I found also TSB have given on going incentives (nothing ATM worth having) but in the past £10 a month debit card spending bonuses. Ulster bank had/have a saver worth keeping money in so I keep their account along with TSB. I also keep another bank account with two DD's active, just incase someone comes up with a switch bonus I've not had.😁

PRAISETHESUN

I think it's worth it. Once you understand how these offers typically work, it's fairly straightforward to comply with the terms and set yourself up for the next one. I have spare accounts in the wings ready to go each time an offer releases that I'm eligible for.

And as above, there's no need to actually switch your main bank account. Open a secondary account, set that up with a few token DDs and switch that account around instead.